Dr. Ted Lappas

I’m a computer scientist and academic, specializing in scalable Data Mining and Machine Learning algorithms for multimodal data. I am particularly interested in algorithms and applications related to text, visual, and graph-based data.  You can find an almost complete list of my publications here

In 2006, I my received my Bachelor’s in Computer Science from the Athens University of Economics and Business, with a specialization in Information Systems. That same year, I left Greece for California, to start my PhD as a member of the Database Lab at UCR , under the supervision of Prof. Dimitris Gunopulos and Prof. Vassilis Tsotras. Through Dimitris and his advisor, I have an Erdős number of 3 🙂 In 2011, I received my PhD in Computer Science from UCR, specializing in data mining and information retrieval for spatiotemporal data. My thesis was titled Algorithmic Challenges in Social Media Search”.

In 2011, joined the  Data Management Lab at the Computer Science Department of Boston University as a post-doctoral researcher, working with Prof. Evimaria Terzi. In 2012, I was named Visiting Fellow at the BU’s Rafik B. Hariri Institute for Computing and Computational Science & Engineering. While at BU, my research focused primarily on algorithms for text and graph data, with applications in sentiment summarization, online reputation, and algorithmic team formation

In 2013, I joined the School of Business at Stevens Institute of Technology, as an Assistant Professor of Information Systems. In 2020, I was promoted to Associate Professor with tenure. While at Stevens, my work focused on machine learning and NLP algorithms for modeling and understanding multimodal user-generated content from online platforms. Some of the applications I studied were the sensitivity of online reputation, user activation and content virality in online communities, and career path analysis.

In 2019, I started my ongoing collaboration with Satalia, an AI company and part of WPP, to explore the creation of autonomous AI agents that can evolve into domain experts within a specific field. This work has led to the development of the WPP Brains Programme, which is dedicated  to delivering AI agents with deep expertise in key areas of marketing. 

In 2021, I came back to my Alma Mater and joined AUEB as an Assistant Professor at the Dept. of Marketing & Communication. In addition to my undergraduate courses, I also teach in AUEB’s MS in Marketing Analytics and MS in Data Science programs.